The Crimson Shadow of a Dead Man.
by Amadeo l'ange
Summary: My revised version. Better paragraphing and fixed typos. The story is about Vincent and his encounter with Sephiroth. Pre-Game


This is my revision of this fiction. I hope it is a little easier to read.  
  
I would just like to say that I have in no way any ownership of this game and I am probably breaking a couple of laws by doing this but, hey...oh well, on with the story.  
  
  
  
The gun smoke had never left the pistol before the Turk lay dead. Vincent was in death with his love for the first and last time. Death had even been stolen from the man. "...Death was mine and still is. I am a phantom to haunt my own mind for the rest of eternity thanks to him..." Vincent thought as he lay stiff in his coffin under the manor. He couldn't remember how he had come to be in this coffin or why he was still there.  
  
All he knew was that this eternal rest was accompanied by that of heaven and hell if the places even exist. "Never mind that, anymore..." he thought and the crimson eyes shut once more for years on end. His nightmares grew only larger in amount in this endless strain between life and death. He could only hope for one or the other and never cared which. He awoke once more with no more age to him since his last awakening 10 years ago. "My life was taken and so was my death...am I human? I was. At that one point I was. Lucrecia made it clear to me that I was...Lucrecia..." He let out a sigh. Lucrecia was what he had lived for...no wonder he was in this state since she was dead. He slipped off...off into his only peace.  
  
More years passed by. 5...10...and 15. 15 years had passed since he last felt the pain of what was left of him and he remained lifeless until he felt a presence around him. He quickly grabbed his Quick Silver with his Turk instincts and held it to what distantly destroyed his life, Sephiroth. The barrel was firm against the man's muscular neck and Sephiroth looked down on Vincent. Vincent crouched like this for what felt like hours, ever ready to pull the trigger. He knew who this was by those eyes. He need not for a second guess at that. "What's your business here, Sephiroth...?" Sephiroth took his sword against the Quick Silver's barrel and pushed it out of alignment with his flesh. Vincent shot the man a look of death and brought his gun down slightly. He repeated himself after a moment of silence, "Sephiroth...What do you disturb me for?!"  
  
It was an awkward time. Both characters were in silence, which Vincent was not used to. Sephiroth threw his sword down to the floor. The sound echoed across the crypt and Vincent stood as a statue. Sephiroth broke the silence a moment later. "Brother...", Sephiroth said. Vincent looked the man over and again caught those eyes. "You know little of who you are...go away, Sephiroth." were the words that came silent from under the cloak. Vincent spoke again, this time clear, "I am no one's relative or friend in any way." Sephiroth gave a sly grin. "Look into my eyes, Vincent." Vincent did not need to. He had already seen them and identified Sephiroth by them so he closed his crimson eyes, to have no connection with him. "You were born of Jenova...she is your mother, Vincent.", Sephiroth said with a wide grin on his face.  
  
He put a hand on Vincent's shoulder, but Vincent quickly casted it away. "I was reborn of Jenova without choice, get it right..." he said as the grip on his Quick Silver tightened. "Does that change the fact that we are the same, Vincent? We are one made to avenge Mother...its the meaning to our lives!" Vincent finally got out of his crouching position and stepped out of the coffin. "It's the meaning to my damnation, not life. I have no life anymore...only an endless blackness that consists of Hojo, You, and...your mother...", Vincent said with his head down. "So avenge Jenova, Vincent. You were made to...you were made to follow in my humble footsteps as we carry out our crusade." Vincent could not handle the temptation any longer. He pulled his good arm up with the Quick Silver and shot at Sephiroth. He thought it was a sure hit, but Sephiroth again grabbed his shoulder from behind him this time. Vincent jerked around and stepped back. "Join me now, Vincent.  
  
"Join me or you and all others will taste what could have been our wrath. You have the least knowledge of some things, Vincent, but you have a world of it on others. We could share this knowledge and rewrite the Holy scripts. Join me now!" Vincent ran in panic out of the crypt and up the rounding staircase. He went to the room where his instinct told him the key to the crypt was and found the safe untouched for years. Surely Sephiroth could not have got into there with just that sword...No, he remembered the power Hojo had put into the man. There were no signs of any damage, though. Vincent decided he was wasting his time and quickly checked the ammunition in his Quick Silver.  
  
At that very moment death swooped down beside him, now armed with the Masamune. He threatenly aimed at his forehead as Sephiroth walked closer. "You can't run from Mother, Vincent. You can't!" Sephiroth yelled as he swung his long-sword at Vincent's neck, but Vincent dodged and the sword caught the corner of a wall, which Vincent had been leaning on. Vincent couldn't run from Sephiroth's mother, because that woman was Lucrecia. It was even possible that Vincent was this insane man's father, but would not dare to accept that. Vincent ran down another stone hall and came to a large metal door. He shot the lock off and opened it. The crisp air shot out as he continued his way inside.  
  
He was shocked at what he found, the large metal tables that Hojo had practiced his devilish experiments on. He laid his metal claw down on one of them. He could feel that pain coming back into his body, the tearing of flesh with no pain killer at all soon as Hojo had brought him back to life. Yes, Hojo simply brought him back to life after injecting him with the Jenova Cells and then put him into a dazed state. He then tore Vincent's arm off, but Vincent could feel it. He remembered looking at his love on the other table, dead. Young Sephiroth's cries rang throughout the manor and Vincent's tears ran as a river during the entire process until he thought he had died...then awoke in the coffin a year later. At that moment, Sephiroth walked into the experimental room.  
  
"Vincent, we both came from this...give into it. I was created as God and will live as it. You are my Archangel to obey me. To follow in my greatness." Sephiroth walked to a large tube labeled "Jenova" and looked it over. "She was here, Vincent. The mother that gave a second life to you and a greatness to me! I don't love Mother, no...I appreciate her. I wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for her!", and he slammed his fist on a nearby table.  
  
Vincent looked at the table, and recognized it as the one Hojo's fellow scientists had laid the dead Lucrecia on after her death. "Funny how he is correct in stating how he feels about both mothers when only knowing of that monster he calls one.", Vincent thought. "I have offered you greatness, Brother. You had your chance. I will leave you here in our birthplace and let you sleep...sleep while I carry out what I promised I will do.", and Sephiroth left. Vincent could not go back to his coffin directly, no. He stationed himself at Hojo's old desk and went through the papers for hours until he found all the info on Lucrecia he needed. He ran to the coffin next to his and read what was on it, "Project Chaos".  
  
Vincent turned to his coffin and it read the same. He couldn't find any information on this and after hours of research with no leads he went to her coffin to open it. Possibly, she was just waiting to be awakened from a sleep as Hojo had put Vincent in. He began to open the lid and...  
  
Vincent's crimson eyes again shot open to another disturbance. This time he found a blonde boy at his side, he once again drew his Quick Silver and held it to his neck. He felt the weight of it after a second, found it full. "How could that be...I at least fired at Sephiroth twice...", Vincent thought. The boy spoke of going after Sephiroth and of current events. Of how he had been traveling with Sephiroth for years and this was his home. Vincent added all of this together and decided his entire encounter a dream. He actually left his coffin for the first time in thirty years and set off in search of the man that knew was going to fulfill his promise to him. Even if he never made that promise in the first place. 


End file.
